Leadership under Pressure: Tactics from the Front Line

Article Type: Suggested readings From: Human Resource Management International Digest, Volume 18, Issue 7

Colonel Bob Stewart, Kogan Page, 2009, ISBN: 9780749456559

In Leadership under Pressure: Tactics from the Front Line, Colonel Bob Stewart shares his experiences and reflections of leaders and leadership.

The author combines discussions of military and business leadership across various contexts, from administration to combat. In an interesting blend of history and relatively recent military history, he provides an accessible discussion of how one experienced and successful leader views the journey of leadership and development over a military career. The book contains wisdom that might be invaluable to an emerging generation of military leaders, but also contains practical advice for those leading for-profit and non-profit organizations.

The format of Leadership under Pressure is reminiscent of John Gardner’s classic text On Leadership. Following an introduction,each of the 15 chapters is headed primarily with leader characteristics (for example, intelligence, innovation, courage) or applications (for example,preparation, negotiation, reflections). Within each chapter is a collection of sub-titles that guide the reader to specific descriptions in the chapter’s topic, and often applications from the author’s expansive military career.

The style is first-person and conversational, but without leaving the impression of a memoir. Stewart does not provide a political backdrop; the book is purely about the mechanics of leading others, with plenty of examples to support the author’s assertions.

The introduction is “heading heavy”, with major points set off with headings yet following with sometimes as little as a sentence or two of narrative. Initially, this makes for disjointed reading. However, the chapters are not structured in this way and are well organized. Given that each chapter is intended to cover a component of leadership, based on the author’s study, reflections and experience, readers would find useful a synthesis and integration of each chapter’s sub-topics.

The chapters offer treatment of various topics relevant to the study and application of leadership. Several of the chapters are related to the functions of management (for example, decision making and planning) while others have a historical and autobiographical tone (for example, roots of leadership, crisis management and personal style). While the chapters contain useful truisms from a voice of experience, their presentation does not follow a particular order; nor are they categorized by theme, which would have been useful for continuity of thought.

Colonel Stewart’s treatment of leadership is an interesting historical discussion and is useful for working leaders, whether in the contexts of the military, politics or business.

Reviewed by Larry W. Hughes, Assistant Professor of Management, Central Washington University, USA.

A longer version of this review was originally published inLeadership and Organization Development Journal, Vol. 31 No. 2, 2010.